Is Sociology a Science?

Is Sociology a Science  is Sociology a Science? Give reasons for your answer | Is sociology classed as a science | reasons why sociology is a science

What Is the Meaning of Sociology? | Is Sociology a Science?

  Etymologically, the word 'sociology' has a hybrid origin of two languages-Latin and Greek. The word 'socius' is a Latin term meaning friend, companion or associate. The Greek logos' or 'ology' means study of. It also means doctrine, discourse or theory. By combining the words, it can be illustrated in the following form:

socius+logos-sociology (study of human association)

   Thus, literally, sociology is the study of companionship, meaning social interaction and its resultant relationship that exists between companions or groups of human beings.

Definition and Meaning of Sociology

   The term 'Sociology' was coined by Auguste Comte, a French philosopher in 1830 and he is considered 'the father of sociology'. The word 'sociology' is derived from Latin term 'societus' meaning 'society' and a Greek term "logos", meaning 'study' or 'science'. The etymological meaning of sociology is thus the science of society.

 Definitions of Sociology by Key Thinkers

Since the time of Comte, various scholars have sought to define sociology in different ways:

 According to Comte, "Sociology is the science of social order and progress.”

 In the words of Gillin and Gillin-"Sociology in its broadest sense may be said to be the study of inter-actions arising from the association of living beings.

  Ogburn states “Sociology is concerned with the study of the social life of man and its relationship to the factors of culture, natural environment, heredity and group."

 MacIver and Page defined Sociology as  "Sociology seeks to discover the principles of cohesion and of order within the social structure, the ways in which it roots and within grows an environment, the moving equilibrium of changing structure and changing environments, the main trends of the incessant change the forces which determine its direction at any time and so on.”

 

What Is Science?

  The term 'science' refers to the body of knowledge obtained methods based upon systematic observation. As a systematic observation, sociology fulfils all the requirements of a science. It is objective, empirical, logical, value-neutral, and parsimonious. It has other characteristics of science also such as verifiability, reliability, precision, accuracy, predictability and the power of generalisation. All allegations levelled against its scientific nature are partially true.

 According to Anthony Giddens (2000), "Science is the use of systematic methods of empirical investigation the analyses of data, theoretical thinking and the logical assessment of arguments to develop a body of knowledge about a particular subject matter.

 

Key Features of Sociology as a Science

Sociology a Social Science?

  Sciences are commonly divided into natural and social sciences. Natural science studies natural phenomena (animate and inanimate both). Astronomy, biology, chemistry, physics and geology are all natural sciences. Social science is the study of various aspects of human society. The social sciences include sociology, anthropology, economics, political science etc. Sociology broadly studies human behaviour, man in society, social life of human beings and the sometimes thought but a social science. It is neither philosophy nor socialism as is sometimes thought but a social science.

2. Sociology is generalising science

  This is an important feature of sociology which distinguishes it from history which is particularising (idiographic). For instance, sociology is not interested in a particular war (e.g., war of Mahabharat) but in war or revolution as a recurrent social phenomenon. Sociology seeks general laws or principles about human behaviour and association. It is interested in formulating generalisations of general validity.

 

3. Sociology is an abstract science

 The concerns of sociology are relatively abstract not concrete. As a science, it proceeds on a plane of abstraction. For example, sociology is interested not in particular families but in the family as a social institution that exists in all societies-modern or preliterate.

4. Sociology is categorical science

 Sociology is concerned with the questions of what, when, how or why and where about man and society and not what ought to be. It gives categorical judgements rather than normative ones. It is this feature of sociology that distinguishes it from ethics or moral and political philosophy.

5. Sociology is a pure science

Sociology is engaged in the acquisition of knowledge and not in its application. This distinction is like chemistry and pharmacy, physics and engineering or biology and science of medicine.

 

 6. Sociology is both rational and empirical science

As an empiricist, a sociologist collects facts and as a rationalist, he coordinates and arranges them.

 
7. Sociology is a generalist science

  The nature of sociology is synthesising and generalising. It is not a specialist science like economics or political science. The focus of sociology may be special one, as is the focus of every other science, but its area of study is general. 

Objections to Sociology Being Called a Science

Sociology is not a perfect or pure science due to the following facts:-

(1) Lack of experimentation.

-In science experiments are being conducted in laboratories to test and conclude. As society is so complicated and complex, it is not possible to separate and analyse its different elements in laboratories as can be done in physical sciences.

 

(2) Lack of objectivity.

In sociology, it is not possible to measure or weigh sentiments, emotions and feelings. At the same time, the sociologist himself is a human being who has his own prejudices, likings and disliking, to every problem and as such it is difficult to have objectivity in sociology.

(3) Lack of exactivity

In sociology, generalisations are not so exact as they are conditional and are not applicable under similar conditions every time.

(4) Not universal

The conclusions of sociology are not applicable everywhere and under all physical, social and cultural factors. Sociology is based on the human behaviour which differs from person to person and place to place. Hence, the generalisations of sociology are not so universal.

 There is the difference of opinion regarding sociology as a pure science or not. But it can be considered as a social.

 

 Defending Sociology as a Science

The above objections against the nature of sociology as a science have not much weight. All these are not even tenable. To say that sociologists cannot study their subject matter objectively is not fully correct. We can agree on this point that absolute objectivity is not possible in social research because of the special character of its subject matter. It is argued that human beings cannot be totally objective. Sociologists studying communal relations have found that a journalistic account of an event by a Muslim writer differs from an account of the same event by a Hindu writer. But, there are many procedures for minimising the level of this subjectivity. Sociologists apply those procedures and techniques to make their study more and more objective.

 

    Another objection is that sociology has no laboratory. No doubt, sociology has no such laboratory which is hedged in a small room, fitted with some test tubes, balances and other gadgets of science to study and measure their subject matter. The laboratory of sociology is whole world wherever human beings are found. Even in the physical sciences, there are certain phenomena which cannot be subject to controlled laboratory experiments, still they are considered as science. Newton, Archimedes and Marconi and many other scientists had no laboratories in the modern sense of the term; their laboratories were whole physical world. But still they were successful in formulating scientific laws.

     It is often said that the subject matter of sociology is too complex and there is a presence of vested interests in the material of sociology. Any subject may seem complex to an untrained observer, however, the people have been 'doing' sociology for thousands of years. The real difficulties in studying sociology scientifically involve the issues of free will' and autonomy of human beings and also the closeness of the subject matter of sociology to the observer; sociologists are part of societies they are studying, which makes it extremely difficult to detach themselves sufficiently from their subject matter. Although it may be impossible to predict exactly how an individual will behave in a particular situation, defenders of sociology as a science argue that certain groups tend to behave in a predictable ways in similar situations. In response to the second criticism that due to their closeness to the subject matter, it is difficult to prevent bias from affecting their perceptions, it can be argued that sociologists can be objective by separating themselves from the subject, by repeating studies using multiple observers, and by making cross- cultural and historical comparisons.

Conclusion: Is Sociology a Science?

 

To conclude this futile debate about the nature of sociology as a science, it can be said that sociology in all respects is a scientific discipline like all other sciences because it uses scientific method to arrive at the generalisation. All allegations levelled against its scientific nature do not hold true in the broader framework of science. The goals of all sciences, including sociology, are the formulation of scientific laws or principles. "But it cannot be modelled directly natural sciences, because studying human behaviour is in fundamental ways different from studying the world of nature" (Giddens. )Now, there has been diminishing controversy about whether sociology be called a science or not.